Alfred Elwes

Alfred Elwes (1819–1888) was a nineteenth-century British author of children's literature, academic, philologist, and occasional translator of French, Italian and Portuguese literature into English. He is perhaps best remembered for his translation of the medieval Arthurian romance Jaufry the Knight and the Fair Brunissende; a Tale of the Times of King Arthur.

Life and career Elwes was born in 1819 at Woolwich, Kent. In his education Elwes attained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He studied at Leiden in the Netherlands. His earliest known work, Il Nuovo Vergani (1845), a grammar in Italian for the study of English, and running through 1858. In 1868 he served, along with Samuel Neil, as one of the two vice-presidents of the newly established British Literary Union. In 1870 he held the position of Official Translator of Modern Languages in London.

Literary works Elwes' interests in Continental languages and travel are reflected in most of his works. He both wrote and translated travel literature, and much of his children's fiction details the lives or adventures of young protagonists in European locales.

In addition to his works published in book form, Elwes contributed prose and verse to various periodicals.

Elwes was the compiler of a number of English/Romance dictionaries, as well as Romance language grammars for the use of students learning the languages, all reissued in various editions into the twentieth century.